Irish/Norwegian London based makeup artist and beauty editor Astrid Kearney reports for ZOOT from Ireland Fashion Week, diving deep into the season’s standout shows with rare backstage access and a sharp eye for detail. Blending beauty insight with designer storytelling, she connects with the creatives and philosophies behind the collections.

This is all about Paul Costelloe’s Dublin Homecoming.

 

Article Astrid Kearney

Backstage Photography Hannah Eliza Ring
Beauty Backstage Photography Nikolay Lakolev

Lead Makeup Lan Nguyan-Grealis using Sosu Cosmetics

Lead Hair Dylan Bradshaw Dublin

Illustrators Louise Boughton & Anna Huang/Dolls in a Row from Drawing Cabaret Couture

 

Beneath the soaring majestic dome of Dublin’s City Hall, at Ireland Fashion Week, Paul Costelloe delivered a show that was both timeless and strikingly modern. Tailoring met tradition, heritage met innovation, and every look balanced precision with softness. The collection unfolded like a love letter to Irish artistry with sculptural coats, softened tweeds, and silhouettes that carried history with ease.
For Costelloe, this was more than a showcase; it was a homecoming. The Heritage Show marked a return to his Irish roots and an affirmation of why he remains one of fashion’s enduring masters of tailoring. Decades after first establishing his name in London, his designs still carry the unmistakable precision of couture blended with an innate understanding of wearability. Each piece felt grounded in the past yet built for the woman of now: independent, tactile, elegant without pretension.

 

 

His signature tailoring dominated the runway, with sharp-shouldered coats that moved like sculpture, swing skirts that caught the air, and textured fabrics that seemed to breathe with the light. The palette was polished and sophisticated: heather, moss, rosewood ,winter white, and deep charcoal, each tone whispering of the Irish landscape translated into cloth.

 

 

 

 

Makeup Lead Lan Nguyen-Grealis crafted velvet luminous skin using the Underwear Hydrating Base and Complete Canvas Complexion Palette by Sosu Cosmetics to create dewy natural skin. Eyes were softly defined with a wash of fawn tone from the Matte Eyeshadow Palette in Neutral, while lips were finished in the warm nude of Matte Lipstick in Naive Nude. Cheeks were lightly contoured to catch the light, completing a beauty look that enhanced the garments while remaining elegantly subtle. The tones throughout were earthy, muted peach, soft oatmeal, a whisper of heather, echoing Costelloe’s tailored serenity.

 

 

 

 

Hair, led by Dylan Bradshaw, mirrored the structure of the clothes, sleek and precise. Side parted, polished and tied low at the nape. It was clean, architectural, and intentional, reflecting a deep understanding of how style and tailoring interact on the runway.

 

 

 

 

With the Heritage Show, Paul Costelloe reaffirmed his mastery of modern tailoring and his deep respect for Irish craftsmanship. Every silhouette, every fabric, every detail spoke of a designer in command of his vision, bridging past and present with effortless grace. The show was a testament to Costelloe’s ability to honour tradition while shaping the future of fashion, a confident, intelligent, and luminous statement that left audience and team alike with a sense of pride and possibility.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To boot…

PAUL COSTELLOE
www.paulcostelloe.co.uk I @paulcostelloeofficial
PR Align The Agency

IRELAND FASHION WEEK @irelandfashionweek

ASTRID KEARNEY, makeup artist, creative & writer
www.astridkearney.com  I @astridkearneymakeup

 

Read more from Astrid for ZOOT here.